Montana pre-research tips

JHoward88
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#51 Post by JHoward88 » 07 Mar 2021 21:50

Post 2 - Slides 6 thru 10 show additional pictures from Helena, MT.
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JHoward88
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#52 Post by JHoward88 » 07 Mar 2021 21:53

Last Post - Slides 11-13. As a Montana Resident, I'll also throw it out there that when it comes time to develop Montana Content for ATS, I'd be happy to do some light partnership with SCS to provide info, pictures, or feedback on aspects of the State which might be easy for me to provide, but more difficult for the developers.
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flight50
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#53 Post by flight50 » 08 Mar 2021 02:13

@JHoward88 that's some pretty good info you provided. I'm sure the devs can use this when designing Helena. Are you able to take high res picks of rocks and vegetation in the state? Both those tend to be fan favorites to pick on for accuracy. Are there any unique signs that are in Montana? A ton of the small details always makes the biggest impressions.
JHoward88
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#54 Post by JHoward88 » 08 Mar 2021 03:56

I love taking that kind of photos - probably already have enough content to put together something. I'll make a future post featuring additional photos of landscapes/rock/vegetation. An excuse to grab my camera and go on a day trip is always welcome!

If any of the devs want original resolution images for anything I post, I'm also happy to share. 8-)
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flight50
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#55 Post by flight50 » 08 Mar 2021 14:50

Sounds awesome. If you have Imgur, just make a photo album and post the link. I've done that for my Vegas trip in which I pretty much took pics of the entire new portion of the strip from the welcome sign, all the way down to like where the road starts to curve which is close to like Treasure Island. I was hoping we got more of the strip. Maybe with the Nevada rebuild once we can get new assets. Many others post album's too as its much easier than posting so many individual pics.

Sometimes the research team can't find or know all the info that a local native would so any help, is good help. You just never know when something you post is that missing piece of information.
jeremyj621
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#56 Post by jeremyj621 » 30 Apr 2021 01:18

When re-creating Billings, I would recommend adding Yellowstone River Road. It's actually rare to see trucks drive along that road since it passes through a residential neighborhood, but it is one of the most scenic roads in the city.
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oldmanclippy
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#57 Post by oldmanclippy » 19 Aug 2021 13:22

I'll be taking the following route later this month through Montana: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/44.6745 ... m2!4m1!3e0, so I'll have more info after that, but I thought I'd get started now with my preexisting knowledge:

- Our Lady of the Rockies was already mentioned, but I'll reiterate that it's an important landmark that should be visible from I-90 and I-15 near Butte.

- Another fun landmark is the "M" on the mountain north of Bozeman. It used to be a ritual for freshmen at Montana State University to hike up there to keep the M in good condition, but it has since been replaced by concrete so maintenance is minimal.
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.6954522 ... 384!8i8192
https://www.montana.edu/them/history.html

- Pompey's Pillar National Monument is the only physical evidence we have along the route of Lewis and Clark's expedition that shows they were there. The information sign should be included if MT-312 is included to get to rural depots outside of Billings, as well as the turn off road (blocked off with yellow x's would be sufficient).
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.9870374 ... 312!8i6656
https://www.google.com/maps/@45.987427, ... 312!8i6656
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pompeys_P ... l_Monument

- The Rocky Mountains should very suddenly arise from the plains on US-2 heading west. This is an example of how dramatic the difference between the plains and the mountains are. There's no buildup, only the Rocky Mountain Front. "The Rocky Mountain Front in [Montana] represents some of the highest changes of elevation within a short distance anywhere in North America." It should feel very sudden and dramatic. Colorado did a good job at expressing this, so Montana should take that to the next level.
https://www.google.com/maps/@48.5133124 ... 312!8i6656
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rocky_Mountain_Front
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rbsanford
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#58 Post by rbsanford » 20 Aug 2021 05:42

About those hill letters: those are everywhere in Montana, from what I've seen in GMaps. Usually it's just the town's initial, or represents the local high school/college, but some are more unique. Livingston, for example, has a fish.

Right at the Rocky Front, US 2 crosses the coulee of the Two Medicine. Here's a photo I took of that crossing back in 2015, as seen from the Empire Builder on the rail bridge just upstream:
[ external image ]
Both are very high, impressive bridges, with beautiful mountain backdrops. Additionally, I noted that the Two Medicine here acts as a kind of border between the prairie and the forest. This could all be gleaned from GMaps, but I figured I'd underline it with personal experience.

Yeah, the crossing of the mountains on US 2/the Empire Builder is amazing, the way the Lewises, some in unusual colors and shapes, stand seemingly perpendicular to the sea of grass. The pass here, by 1853, had been abandoned by the local Blackfeet out of superstition, and took a great deal of effort to locate by surveyors that year. The pass wouldn't be explored and charted until 1889, and was done by Great Northern engineer John Frank Stevens (as in Stevens Pass) in a blizzard. And in order to go through this gap between the mountains, you have to cross this deep threshold between the plains and the forest, and at the western end, you have to pass through a narrow gate. It's the stuff of legends.
The Journeys of Zephyr of the American West

Handy maps and diagrams.

Furthermore, I consider that I-80 across Nevada must be redone next.
plinio.lisboa.br
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#59 Post by plinio.lisboa.br » 27 Aug 2021 12:10

Transporting barley malt to the Canadian border. 2021.
Maybe this video about transporting grain in Montana might be helpful. Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnlrD33xmRc
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oldmanclippy
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Re: Montana pre-research tips

#60 Post by oldmanclippy » 30 Aug 2021 14:15

Forsyth might be a good scenic town along I-94 between Billings and Miles City. The Rosebud County Courthouse would be a good landmark.
https://www.google.com/maps/@46.2657808 ... 312!8i6656

The badlands between Miles City and Glendive should be prioritized as a sort of taste for what is to come with Theordore Roosevelt National Park across the border in North Dakota. Example: https://www.google.com/maps/@46.79514,- ... 312!8i6656

The mountains north of Bozeman are BIG. I mean BIG. Very imposing, very rocky, very dramatic. Google street view does not do them justice at all (it really doesn't for any mountains but especially these ones. Something to keep in mind.

Big Sky should be the scenic town between West Yellowstone and Bozeman. It might be the most famous ski resort in the United States. Bozeman could get a depot in the lower town parts off of MT-64, but going up to the resort I think is outside the scope of a truck sim.

I don't think that this section of US-191 through Yellowstone that snakes back into Wyoming has any signs stating that you have entered Wyoming/Montana. At least, I didn't see any, and I can't find any on street view: https://www.google.com/maps/dir/44.9361 ... m2!4m1!3e0. Easy to assume there would be a sign of some sort but I don't think there is. There was a sign that said you were entering Yellowstone National Park, however. I'm having trouble finding it on street view but it was there going northbound at the park boundary.
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